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- The Sickos Committee’s Weather Travel and Football Master Almanac Notebook. (SCWTFMAN) - The Missouri Valley Football Conference Outlook.
The Sickos Committee’s Weather Travel and Football Master Almanac Notebook. (SCWTFMAN) - The Missouri Valley Football Conference Outlook.
Welcome to the Sickos Committee’s Weather, Travel & Football Master Almanac Notebook aka the SCWTFMAN.
Here in our SCWTFMAN we will attempt to forecast the upcoming 2023 college football season by using our Sickos Committee alert system. We’re going to do this in the Farmer’s Almanac style. If you don’t know what a Farmers' Almanac is, basically it provides long-range weather predictions for both the U.S. and Canada. We will be applying our forecast to all of Division I in the United States. We’re trying to predict what the upcoming season holds for all Division I teams in college football using our Sickos Committee Weather Alert System.
First we will preview the 128 FCS teams in a conference by conference breakdown over the next coming weeks. Then we will get to the 133 FBS teams for a total of 261 team previews in all.
Will these previews be long winded and incredibly in depth? No. Will these previews be mostly based on “vibes” as assessed by the Sickos Committee weather forecasters? Yes.
Basically, we’re going to try to assess the team as a Sickos Warning, Watch or Advisory, give you their record last year, provide a little blurb about the team and for the FCS version to advise you of any of their games against the FBS and interesting schedule tidbits. We will do a couple of parts here for the substack as we can’t fit all the teams in one post.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference
Illinois State
Last Year 6-5 Overall and 4-4 in the MVC.
Won all their games they were supposed to win and basically lost to teams who all had a better record than them. Lost to South Dakota State, North Dakota State, #19 at the time Southern Illinois and Youngstown State. Their 15 year Head Coach Brock Spack is back. Brock. Spack. Back. That’s just fun to say out loud.
No FBS teams on the schedule this year. Also, their schedule doesn’t have them play both Dakota State’s. They do play defending champions South Dakota State, but least that is at home.
Rating - Sickos Watch - The Redbirds are known for their stingy defense but need some help on offense. They’re rated at 6th in the MVFC Preseason Poll. Can a Minnesota Transfer QB help guide them to some upsets in the MVFC?
Indiana State
Last Year 2-9 Overall and 1-7 in the MVFC.
Won their first game of the year 17-14 in OT against North Alabama, then lost eight in a row through a brutal schedule which included Montana, North Dakota State (nearly upset them) and South Dakota State. Lost their first four MVFC games by only a combined 24 points. Beat win-less Western Illinois and then lost to Missouri State. Head Coach Curt Mallory returns for his 6th Season.
Two FBS games at Indiana in Week 2 and at Ball State in Week 3. Their MVC schedule misses South Dakota State and North Dakota State which is always nice.
Rating - Sickos Watch - They are projected 10th in the MVFC, have an easier schedule this year but can they take advantage of it? Maybe? Can the Sycamores become the Sickomores and cause some MVFC drama?
Missouri State
Last Year 5-6 Overall and 3-5 in the MVFC.
Led by Head Coach Bobby Petrino last year they put the fear of God in all Arkansas fans by nearly upsetting the Razorbacks but fell short and then the season fell apart due to a hard schedule and other factors. Well, Petrino left and went to UNLV, then three weeks later Texas A&M. New Head Coach Ryan Beard takes over from the Defensive Coordinator spot. Hey, an actual Coach Beard! ALSO, He’s Bobby Petrino’s Son-in-law! how about that??
One FBS game this year at Kansas to open the year. A few years ago, that’d be very nice but not so much anymore. They got both NDSU and SDSU this year. They close the season at South Dakota State too. A tough schedule with minimal opportunity.
Rating - Sickos Watch - Plenty of question marks, a new Head Coach, the aftermath of Bobby Petrino and a tough schedule. Who knows what this season will bring?
Murray State
Last Year 2-9 Overall and 1-7 in the OVC. First Year in the MVFC in 2023.
A very tough year last year in the OVC where they only beat winless Robert Morris and upset middling Tennessee State. Now they move to the harder MVFC for seemingly basketball reasons. Head Coach Dean Hood returns for a 4th season to jockey the Racers.
Two FBS teams at Louisville and at Middle Tennessee back to back in Week 2 and 3. They get a trip to the Fargodome as a welcome to the MVFC but avoid South Dakota State.
Rating - Sickos Advisory - It’s tough to predict much luck in the MVFC after the struggles in the OVC last year. They are picked second to last in the 2023 MVFC Preseason Poll.
North Dakota
Last Year 7-5 Overall and 5-3 in the MVFC. Made FCS Playoffs and lost to Weber State in the 1st Round. Finished Ranked 20th.
Last Year the Fighting Hawks placed in a three-way tie for third in the MVFC. Battled hard and upset ranked Northern Iowa and Missouri State. Lost to North Dakota State and South Dakota State. A feisty season from the Fighting Hawks.
One FBS game at Boise State and then they follow it up at South Dakota State. They get North Dakota State at home and the rest of the MVFC schedule sets up nicely.
Rating - Sickos Warning - Projected 5th in the MVFC Preseason Poll and they fall in the category of teams that have the talent to disrupt the SDSU and NDSU stranglehold on the MVFC. The North Dakota QB completed nearly 69 percent (nice) of his passes last year. Can they disrupt the MVFC and cause some chaos? Let’s see.
North Dakota State
Last Year 12-3 Overall and 7-1 in the MVFC. Lost in FCS Title game to South Dakota State and finished ranked 2nd.
Can you lose in the FCS Title game and have it feel like a disappointing year? I guess it can if you’re North Dakota State and you lose to your most hated rival twice. The other loss was to FBS Arizona which was a little unexpected. Head Coach Matt Entz returns for his 5th season.
No FBS team was stupid enough to schedule the Bison this year. They open in a neutral site FCS game in Minneapolis against Eastern Washington. Their big games this year are both on the road. At North Dakota and at South Dakota State in the Dakota Marker game.
Rating - Sickos Advisory - It’s North Dakota State. They’ve won nine national championships since 2011. We don’t expect any Sickos behavior from them.
Northern Iowa
Last Year 6-5 Overall and 5-3 in the MVFC.
Started ranked 21st last year and fell out of the rankings after Week 2. Upset Southern Illinois and then nearly upset South Dakota State towards the end of the year but fell short of the FCS Playoffs. Head Coach Mark Farley is back for his 23rd Season for the Panthers.
One FBS team, they open in Ames at Iowa State and oh is that interesting. They get South Dakota State at home in the UNI Dome. Then home against Weber State, followed by a trip to Holt Arena against Idaho State for some reason. They got both North Dakota State and South Dakota State away this year, the Bison to end the regular season.
Rating - Sickos Warning - They’re preseason 3rd in the MVFC which is a lot of hype but they got the talent to back it up after a down year. Especially with Theo Day, the PFF top ranked FCS QB. However, they have questions in the secondary and offensive line. Should make for some wild high scoring contests this year and we always love that in FCS.
South Dakota
Last Year 3-8 Overall and 2-6 in the MVFC.
Really difficult season last year but a bright spot of an upset of then ranked 24th at the time Southern Illinois. Head Coach Bob Nielson returns for an 8th Year as the Coyotes commander.
One FBS game at Mizzou to open the season. It’s a difficult MVFC schedule but they have some winnable games against Murray State, Indiana State and Western Illinois.
Rating - Sickos Watch - They expect to try to run a ball control grind it out style of offense and may have the running game to pull it off sometimes. We hope the Coyotes can nip a few more wins this year.
South Dakota State
Last Year 14-1 Overall and 8-0 in the MVFC. Won their first ever FCS Championship and did it in style beating their hated rivals. Finished ranked 1st.
Besides losing the most Sickos game of the year, a 7-3 loss to Iowa to start the year, the Jackrabbits were perfect. They had some close calls for losses in the regular season but they won them all. And they got the Dakota Marker too! The Jackrabbits were led by 26th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, who decided to sail off into the sunset with the FCS National Championship win.
No FBS teams on the schedule and finally it seems the FBS teams understand to not schedule a Dakota State, either South or North. A Week 2 game against their Semifinal opponent of Montana State should be an interesting measuring stick game and they are home for the Dakota Marker.
Rating - Sickos Advisory - They welcome new Head Coach Jimmy Rogers, who was promoted from Defensive Coordinator after being with the program since 2013. They are the defending champs and have a real shot to repeat. Not much Sickos activity detected in Brookings.
Southern Illinois
Last Year 5-6 Overall and 4-4 in the MVFC.
Started last year ranked 9th. Lost to Incarnate Word and then to Southeast Missouri State, fell out of the rankings. But then beat Northwestern for their first win of the year. Won 5 straight, got back up to 16th and then lost four straight to end the year. They are led by 8th year Head Coach Nick Hill.
One FBS team this year, at Northern Illinois in Week 2. They get both of the Dakota States but they get all of the bottom dwellers from last year too.
Rating - Sickos Warning - The Salukis were an up and down football team and that sets off the Sickos Warning meter for us. Just the highest of highs and lowest of lows. The forecast this year has them at 4th in the MVFC Preseason Poll but we have no idea how it will turn out but we definitely will be monitoring the season in Carbondale.
Western Illinois
Last Year 0-11 Overall and 0-8 in the MVFC.
They were led by First Year Head Coach Myers Hendrickson. They nearly upset Youngstown State but lost by a point 28-27 and lost to Illinois State in the 20-13 OT in the final game of the year. One of two FCS teams to finish the year without a win.
One FBS game at New Mexico State to open the year. A tough MVFC season awaits them but this season will be the last for the Leathernecks in the MVFC before joining the OVC next year.
Rating - Sickos Advisory - We’re hoping Western Illinois finds a way to win a game this year. We don’t want to see anyone win-less and let’s all root for the Leathernecks to get a win this year.
Youngstown State
Last Year 7-4 Overall and 5-3 in the MVFC.
Dropping the second to last game at Missouri State likely cost the Penguins from making the FCS Playoffs last year. Their only losses besides that one were to both North Dakota Schools and FBS Kentucky. Head Coach Doug Phillips returns for his 4th season at the helm.
One FBS game at Ohio State in Week 2. We doubt the Penguins can be like 1921 Oberlin, the last in-state school to defeat Ohio State. They only get South Dakota State and the rest of the schedule sets up nicely.
Rating - Sickos Watch - They’re picked in the middle of the pack in the MVFC Preseason Poll. If they can steal a win in Week 4, they’ve got a good track to the FCS Playoffs. Can the Penguins pave a path to the playoffs? The Committee will peek in on the Penguins periodically.
This has been an excerpt from the Sickos Committee’s Weather, Travel & Football Master Almanac Notebook.
